MPC plans become bargaining chip in Fort Ord ballot measure

Monterey Peninsula College has become the latest bargaining chip in the ballot fight over the county's former Army base.

Opponents of the Fort Ord open space measure now say it would stop a college project in the works for nearly 20 years — a charge the measure's author, the Fort Ord Access Alliance, denies.

In its argument against the Access Alliance's Measure M filed with the Monterey County Elections Department last week, the opposition wrote that the long-planned Emergency Vehicle Operations Course would be terminated.

The course would be used for law enforcement training and be spread across several areas on the former base, including a 226-acre parcel next to a proposed veterans cemetery. The plans call for a driving track for emergency vehicles, a multi-story "burn building" and a gun range. The installations would be used by the college as well as various law enforcement agencies.

One of the signers of the argument was former MPC president Doug Garrison.

Access Alliance spokesman Jason Campbell said Friday the allegation was "made up" and Measure M, which seeks to stop development on roughly 500 acres of Fort Ord, only concerns areas north of the course.

MPC President Walter Tribley said Friday night he was still assessing what impact the dueling measures would have on the college.

"I want to make perfectly clear that Monterey Peninsula College intends to go forward with our plans ... to build some of the best first responder training facilities in the state of California," he said.

Supporters of the pro-development Measure K say the section of the open space petition describing the Eucalyptus Road Planning Area eliminates a university district needed for the college to go ahead with its plans.

However, the petition never mentions the course by name and focuses on two parcels north of it.

Also, Stan Cook, remediation manager for the Fort Ord Reuse Authority, said the parcels mentioned by the petition are not planned as buffers for the course's gun range.

Yet Monterey County Business Council President Mary Ann Leffel, one of the original signers of the Measure K petition, said the Access measure is written in a way that could be interpreted to mean the entire area — not just the two parcels.

Access measure supporters also pulled the education card for its argument against the opposing petition.

In a reference to the Monterey Downs project, which would be killed by Measure M, the letter said "placing a horse track next door" to CSU Monterey Bay would hinder its ability to attract students and staff.

Monterey County counsel Charles McKee released his impartial analysis of the measures Friday, which claimed Measure M would delete designations for a university district in the Eucalyptus Road Planning Area.

He did not mention the course and only said the measure "may" affect FORA's reuse plan.